History was made on April 1, 2026, at 6:35 p.m. EST the Orion spacecraft—which will carry the Artemis II mission crew—launched into space. This is the first crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years—and it will be the longest space journey any human has ever taken. To celebrate, we’re introducing you to the four astronauts on board. Read on for more on the Artemis 2 crew. 

Get to know the Artemis II crew

These are four members involved in the Artemis II mission. 

Commander Reid Wiseman

Reid Wiseman, 50, a father of two, joined NASA in 2009 after earning a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Masters of Science in Systems Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He also served in the Navy. 

Prior to the Artemis II launch, Wiseman served as flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 41 from May to November 2014. He was also an aquanaut for NASA and in 2016 took part in their Extreme Environment Mission Operation, which meant he had to live under the sea in conditions similar to those in a spacecraft. He also served as chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office from 2020 to 2022, before being named commander of Artemis II mission in 2023. 

“I was a tiny kid. Like, I was really skinny. I was really small. I never thought I’d be an astronaut,” Wiseman said on the NASA podcast, per The New York Times. “I mean, come on, it’s like an unobtainable dream.” 

Pilot Victor Glover 

Victor Glover, 49, is the pilot of the Artemis II mission. He studied at California Polytechnic State University and the Air University, Edwards Air Force Base. He was also a legislative fellow in the United States Senate and a captain in the United States Navy. 

Glover joined NASA in 2013 and has completed four spacewalks. He was the first Black crew member to live in the space station for an extended period of time and even served as a Human Landing Systems crew representative. He was also the pilot on the first operational flight to the International Space Station. Glover was chosen for the Artemis II mission in 2023, making him the first Black astronaut to journey around the moon. 

“This mission is going to be recorded as those 10 days we fly. Nobody sees us in the sim[ulation] when we’re just grinding and having fun and working through something that there’s no procedure for. We’re just going to go do it,” Glover told Space.com. “We learn, and the team learns and we get better and we’re building trust. And that’s what exploration is about. The vigilance is in the part that people don’t see, and so we’re doing our best to meet this moment.” 

Glover and his wife, Dionna Odom, have four children. 

Mission Specialist Christina Koch

Mission Specialist Christina Koch, 47, joined NASA in 2013. Prior to that she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and physics and a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering before becoming an instrument development and remote scientific field engineer. She also served as a research associate in the United States Antarctic Program. 

After joining NASA, Koch went on six spacewalks, one of which was the first all-female walk. Koch also set the record for a single spaceflight by a woman after spending 328 days at the International Space Station. She is now set to become the first woman to ever to journey around the moon.  

“It’s actually a beacon for science,” she said of the mission in a 2023 NASA video. “It’s a beacon for understanding where we came from.”

Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen

Jeremy Hansen, 50, is the only Canadian aboard the Artemis II. He graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada and joined NASA in 2011. From there he became an aquanaut in 2014 before being named the first Canadian in charge of an astronaut class in 2017. He joined the Artemis II mission in 2023, making him the first Canadian to venture into deep space. 

“To do something that has never been done before means that your team is very likely to face failure,” Hansen said, per the BBC. “I like the fact that in space, we are committed to bold goals to the extent that we will not let periodic failure stop our forward progress.” 

Hansen and his wife, Catherine, have three children. 

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/meet-artemis-2-crew-making-space-history